


Take My Breath

by Bolontiku



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:54:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bolontiku/pseuds/Bolontiku
Summary: Moving to a new city is stressful enough, what more than a friendly face to make it a tad easier? Even if its the wrong one…
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Take My Breath

Steve let out a grunt as a body slammed into him, nearly knocking him off his feet.

It was more shock than surprise, he had just picked up a cup of coffee and had stopped to pull his phone out since he was supposed to meet Bucky and the jerk was running late. This, he thought, as arms wrapped around his waist and a face pressed into his back, soft curves molding to his backside as the smell of rose perfume filled his nose, was better.

“ **_JOHNNY!!!_ ** ” the exclamation was followed by excited giggles, arms tightening around his midsection.

He was slightly disappointed, still he pulled himself free and turned. The young woman that stood in front of him smiled brightly, head tilting to the side. “Hey,” he smiled awkwardly, he knew it was embarrassing to get the wrong person as you waved at them, what if you completely molded yourself to them? Still, she stared at him like she knew him. Did she know him? But she’d called him Johnny...

A small hand reached up and cupped his jaw, it sent shivers throughout him as fingers scratched into his beard. She giggled as his blue eyes closed on their own volition. “You’re all scruffy!” he heard her before forcing his eyes open, she scrunched her face at him, “you’ve..” he watched as she stepped back and held him at arm's length, “grown.” 

He knew this was the moment that he should tell her, he thought it odd that anyone would confuse him with someone else, it just didn’t happen. What kinda name was Johnny anyhow?

She let him go and smiled at him softly, “I know it’s been forever but… you did say you’d help me find my hotel and show me around. New York has got to have changed since we went to college right? I like the shirt,” she winked at him, tugging at the bottom of the shirt Tony had been unable to refrain himself from buying. “It’s me….” she swallowed and Steve felt bad as she shifted from foot to foot, he could come clean and offer to help her, “we just texted, I confirmed before my flight took off? I know it’s been years since college and people change, but it's me Maya?”

Steve smiled, he could see the relief in her eyes as he did so, he shuffled his feet and ran a hand through his hair, ducking his head, “sorry, sorry, it’s just… been such a long time! You took my breath away, really."

He would go to hell for this.

“Shit!” she exhaled grinning broadly, “I thought for a second-!” she shook her head, he liked her smile, it was easy and appeared rather rapidly. 

Steve liked the way she smiled, the way she constantly touched, reaching out to tug at his clothes or the way she brushed her fingers over his skin, “ready?” he asked unsure of what he was going to do.

“I was wondering if there was some place we could swing by? I’m starving and plane food is basically nothing but M.R.E.’s,” she joked running a hand through her already tousled caramel hair. He wondered if she did that a lot? “I need actual sustenance!”

“Yeah I know a place. Your bags?”

She let out a great breath and ran a hand through her hair once more, “they are gonna be delivered to the hotel.”

Steve grinned, grabbing his cell phone. “Just gotta text a friend real quick, there’s this great chinese place three blocks from here, that alright? I’ll pay of course.”

She nodded following along as she shouldered the small pack she carried.

"Hope you're good with chopsticks."

"Pshhht! You know I'm a pro!"

"Really? I need to see this-"

She laughed and leaned into him, Steve relaxed, he could be Johnny for a day….

**

Bucky had hurried off the train when his cell dinged. Swiping up as he saw it was a text from Steve he was surprised, he had been running late and was sure his friend would be hounding him but the text explained it all.

‘ _ Met a girl, talk later. _ ’

Bucky grinned, “well, look at that.”

**

Steve flipped the card around, simple cursive; Maya Burke Photographer, followed by her phone number. Baby blue eyes stared over the edge of the small card meeting dark brown eyes, before he tucked it away in his back pocket. “So, you’ve been traveling all these years?”

She nodded sitting back in her chair, “well, it’s only been like four years, right?” she pointed her chopsticks at him, face scrunching up as she grinned.

Steve had been surprised at how much food she had ordered, not certain she would finish half of it, but he liked a girl that could eat. He had been witness to Nat and Wanda packing away more than he could’ve handled pre-serum. It always tickled him. 

Maya grabbed the container filled with white rice and lifted the chopsticks to her mouth expertly, “I picked that camera up and I didn’t look back.”

That camera. 

The one she had used on him five times over already, not to mention the several selfies she had tugged him into. 

‘ _ It’s been years! I need to catch up on slefies! _ ’ she had cried, twisting the word as he ducked down to her height and smiled at her cell phone as she snapped a few pictures. He’d blushed when she pressed her lips to his neck in one, stuck his tongue out, the both of them making silly faces, she had squealed when he had wrapped her up in his arms pressing his face to hers.

He would tell her…. Soon, after lunch, maybe once he took her to her hotel. Yes, once he took her to her hotel. He was having fun for once and she was the reason, he wanted to hold onto it for a little longer.

“So, that begs the question, why come back?” 

Maya stared at him, Johnny’s never looked at her like that, she licks her lips and looks away. Maybe she never saw it, shaking her head she takes a bite of rice, that is the last thing in the world she needs, “back to the states you mean?” he nodded as she set the container down, her smile slowly disappearing. 

How did you tell your bestfriend that you had gotten married without him? That you had the best two years of your life before it started to slowly change? The way everything was your fault, the slow descent into darkness cause you believed what he told you? That you were crazy, that it was all your fault, he didn't mean to hurt you…

Steve saw her rub her left hand, the way darkness gathered in her eyes before she took a breath, shoulders rolled and pushed back and then she smiled. 

It was too practiced.

“You know, heartbreak is a little rough on a girl. Sometimes being back home, albeit in a different state, is comforting. I really couldn’t go back home, all that...stuff with family.” She shook her head, waving her hands around. 

Steve liked how easy it was to read her emotions as they flickered across her face, he liked how open she was, how she dropped the f-word casually and he wondered about the guy that looked like him. How did he get to have a girl this awesome in his life? Should he feel that twinge of jealousy? 

He needed to come clean with her.

He needed to let her know that if she needed help he could do that. He could find her the help she needed. This wasn't a girl coming back home, this was a girl running and hiding.

"Buuut!!" She exclaimed, catching his attention again, "what about you? How's your sister?" Steve swallowed, opening his mouth as her phone rang. "Hold on a sec?" She smiled picking her phone up, "just…"

Steve knew, her face dropped and those eyes flicked up at him. He felt a stab of pain and guilt as those big brown eyes looked at him with uncertainty. He had spent the last several hours with this stranger letting her go on and on about her life, it wasn't hard to see, the person calling had to be the one she had mistaken him for.

Johnny. 

"So," he started slowly as she stood quickly, "wait! Maya- let me explain!!"

She had placed the phone to her ear and grabbed her bag all too quickly. "Johnny! Oh my god, please come get me I don't know who I'm with but I swear to god he's your motherfucking twin and its creepy as fuck!" she spoke as she moved, rushing towards the door of the restaurant. 

Steve growled as she bolted and he had to stop and dig his wallet out, quickly dropping money on the counter without looking or caring. Running after her he caught sight of her caramel hair before she disappeared into the crowd. 

He fumbled for his phone as it rang, “hello?!”

“How’s it going with the girl?” Bucky chuckled from the other end of the line.

Steve frowned as he looked over the crowd. “It’s not.”

He shook his head as Bucky started in on him, running a hand through his hair in frustration. 

Maya Burke.

He wasn't going to forget her anytime soon.


End file.
